Some families have their birthday parties there and one day Ben, a student from Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, told his family that he wanted his eighth birthday party beside the water fun feature.
The water feature has a water fall and a small stream that runs between the large rocks and under the ornamental bridge made of concrete and wood.
Ben had invited all of his friends from Our Lady of the Southern Cross College to his birthday party and that afternoon he stood beside the marquee with the food and birthday cake waiting for them to arrive. Everyone thought that Ben looked like the young Harry Potter. He had glasses, was smart, had the same smile but didn't have the lightning scar on his forehead.
'Wonder if Ben's going to do any magic at his Birthday Party,' said Rebecca.
'Yeh! He might disappear just when his mum's trying to take his photograph,' said Tom.
'No. Don't be silly he's not Harry Potter.'
Parents dropped their children off, told them to be good and to listen to Mrs Affleck and told them not to eat too much as they drove off.
The kids gave their presents to Ben wished him a happy birthday and ran over to the water feature to have a look at the gold fish.
"What will we do till everyone gets here?" asked Rebecca.
"Let's see who can count the most gold fish," said Tom as he leaned over the rail of the ornamental bridge.
Something made them look up into one of the trees instead of counting gold fish however. It was the raucous sound of one of the family of kookaburras that lived in the gum trees of Thomas Jack Park. It was laughing loudly from a branch just above the creek. The children laughed back at it but stopped and ducked for cover as the kookaburra swooped past them, splashed into the creek and then flew back up to the tree branch.
Wriggling in its beak was a gold fish. The kookaburra whacked it a couple of times on the branch, flipped it around in its beak and started to swallow it.
"Oh Yuck. Poor little gold fish," said Ben. "How would you feel like it if you turned into a goldfish, you mean kookaburra?"
The gold fish gave one last wriggle as it the Kookaburra swallowed and one of the golden scales was knocked off by the sharp end of the beak.
It floated down towards the childen. "Catch it!" said Rebecca. "I want it," said Ben but, just as he reached up to catch it, a gust of wind blew the golden scale over towards the marquee and the children couldn't find it no matter how hard they looked.
Well the usual party things happened. Games, fruit juice, more games, more fruit juice, sausages and tomato sauce, more fruit juice and then it was time to sing happy birthday to Ben and for Ben to cut the cake.
Then his mother took the electric carving knife and cut the cake up for everyone to have a slice. Ben got the slice with the number eight on it. No one noticed, not even Ben, that the gold fish scale was lying on the icing right in the middle of the number eight.
He opened his mouth wide and popped the whole piece of cake into his mouth chewed and swallowed the cake, the icing and the scale.
"I wish that Kookaburra hadn't eaten that gold fish," said Ben, "I like them."
"I reckon it would be fun being a goldfish."
Just then, every Kookaburra in Thomas Jack Park began laughing. The gold fish in the water feature started splashing and jumping out of the water.
"Hey look at that!"
All of the children ran over to the water feature staring at the gold fish, jumping and turning somersaults in the air.
"Wow!"
As they watched the jumping goldfish, no one noticed that one of them was changing colour. He was growing more and more golden. It was Ben.
Some of the kids from the party said that they think he would have turned into a gold fish and splashed into the water feature with the gold fish if his grandmother hadn't grabbed him and whacked him on his back just in time. As he coughed the gold fish scale flew out of his mouth and landed in the water. The gold fish stopped jumping, the kookaburra's stopped laughing and Ben turned and gave his grandmother a hug.
"Thanks Grandma. I didn't really want to be a goldfish."
Created by Daryll Bellingham and the students from year 3A and 3D,
Our Lady of the Southern Cross College,
Dalby, Queensland - 11th August, 2009.
Our Lady of the Southern Cross College,
Dalby, Queensland - 11th August, 2009.
